Light irradiation apparatus

Abstract

An object is to provide a light irradiation apparatus irradiating a light to a sample in a reaction vessel while stirring the sample more efficiently. A rotating stage can rotate around a first axis that is a central axis thereof. A holding mechanism holds reaction vessels whose longitudinal directions are a direction of the central axis on a circumference around the first axis on the rotating stage at equal intervals. Rotation mechanisms hold bottoms of the reaction vessels and rotate the reaction vessels around second axes that are central axes of the reaction vessels, respectively. A light irradiation mechanism is disposed on the rotating stage and irradiates a light emitted from at least one light emitting diode to the reaction vessels from a predetermined direction.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A light irradiation apparatus comprising:
 a rotating stage configured to be rotatable around a first axis that is a central axis thereof; 
 a holder that holds a plurality of reaction vessels on a circumference around the first axis on the rotating stage at equal intervals, a longitudinal direction of the reaction vessels being a direction of the central axis; 
 a plurality of rotating pillar-shaped members that hold bottoms of the reaction vessels and rotate the reaction vessels around second axes that are central axes of the reaction vessels, respectively; and 
 a light irradiator that is arranged outside an outer circumference of the rotating stage and configured to irradiate a light emitted from at least one light emitting diode outside the outer circumference of the rotating stage to the reaction vessels from a predetermined direction. 
 
     
     
       2. The light irradiation apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the light irradiator comprises:
 a light source unit in which the at least one light emitting diode is disposed; and 
 a mirror configured to reflect the light emitted from the light source unit and irradiate the reflected light to the reaction vessels. 
 
 
     
     
       3. The light irradiation apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein the light irradiator further comprises a collimator configured to convert the light emitted from the light source unit into a parallel light and output the parallel light to the mirror. 
     
     
       4. The light irradiation apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein
 the at least one light emitting diode is disposed on a principal surface of the light source unit; and 
 an optical axis of the light emitted from the light source unit matches a normal line passing through a center of the principal surface of the light source unit. 
 
     
     
       5. The light irradiation apparatus according to  claim 4 , wherein two or more light emitting diodes are arranged on a third axis passing through the center and parallel to the first axis on the principal surface in the light source unit. 
     
     
       6. The light irradiation apparatus according to  claim 5 , wherein the two or more light emitting diodes are symmetrically arranged with respect to the third axis and arranged on a fourth axis passing through the center of the principal surface and orthogonal to the third axis in the light source unit. 
     
     
       7. The light irradiation apparatus according to  claim 6 , wherein the two or more light emitting diodes are arranged in a matrix in a direction of the third axis and a direction of the fourth axis in the light irradiator. 
     
     
       8. The light irradiation apparatus according to  claim 5 , wherein
 when the two or more light emitting diodes are disposed in the light irradiator, 
 emission wavelengths of the two or more light emitting diodes are the same as each other, 
 emission wavelengths of the two or more light emitting diodes are different from each other, or 
 the two or more light emitting diodes constitute a plurality of groups of light emitting diodes, the light emitting diodes included in each group having the same emission wavelength, emission wavelengths of the groups being different from each other. 
 
     
     
       9. The light irradiation apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 each reaction vessel revolves as the rotating stage rotates, and 
 a revolution period is set to a value that is not a multiple of a rotation period. 
 
     
     
       10. The light irradiation apparatus according to  claim 9 , wherein the revolution period is set to a value other than a value obtained by adding 0.5 to the multiple of the rotation period. 
     
     
       11. The light irradiation apparatus according to  claim 10 , wherein the revolution period is set to a value of an irrational number obtained by dividing the value by the rotation period.